


Tom And Jerry Go On A Blind Date

by Blue_Night



Category: Football RPF, Real Person Fiction
Genre: Alternate Reality, Blind Date, Fluff, M/M, Online Dating, Romance, Secret Crush, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-07
Updated: 2015-05-07
Packaged: 2018-03-29 10:55:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3893767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Night/pseuds/Blue_Night
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mario is a physiotherapist at Borussia Dortmund and has a secret crush on Marco Reus, one of Dortmund's star-footballers. His friend Robert wants him to find a real boyfriend and registers him on an online dating portal for men only. Mario actually finds someone who could make him forget his crush and they start chatting as 'Tom' and 'Jerry' from the cartoon, Mario being the mouse Jerry.<br/>Will he ever meet his 'Tom' and find out who his 'Tom' truly is?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tom And Jerry Go On A Blind Date

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sjst](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sjst/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The One Thing He Never Expected](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3693111) by [sjst](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sjst/pseuds/sjst). 



> Dear sjst, this is written entirely for you, because your wonderful work 'the one thing he never expected' inspired me to this alternate story how Mario and Marco could have become a couple. I hope you don't mind me messing with your story and your characters.
> 
> I hope you will enjoy this little fic based upon your beautiful story and my favorite cartoon 'Tom and Jerry'. Please, let me know! :-)

“Robert, no, don't do that! This is really a bad idea!” Mario cried out, trying to keep his friend from pressing the send-button on his laptop.

Robert pushed Mario's hand out of the way and blocked Mario's weak attempt to get a hold on his laptop while pressing the button with a determined gesture. “Mario! You need to find a boyfriend, really! You're sweet and handsome and kind and everything another man could wish for! Your only problem is that you are too shy to go out and find someone on your own. And this dating portal seems to be exactly the right one for you!”

Mario groaned, burying his face in his hands. Robert meant good, Mario knew that and he was grateful for his friendship and everything he did for him, but registering him on a dating portal was something Mario felt really uncomfortable with. Robert had chosen a portal for men only, set up Mario's profile and was looking expectantly at him as if he wanted to be praised for what he had done.

Mario could feel his gaze upon him and finally raised his head again. “Robert, there is someone I like, I'm not interested in anybody else!” he sighed and Robert smiled warmly at him.

“I know, Mario. But you must get over him. You were the one telling me that there will never be a chance that he will notice you, let alone ask you out for a date. You told me that he is straight. So, you have to find someone else. I will come to you tomorrow and then, we will see who contacted you and might be interesting to chat with him and finally date him.”

Mario shook his head. “I don't think that anybody will be interested in me, but thank you for trying to help me, Robert,” he mumbled as Robert got up. He accompanied him to the door and watched his friend heading down the stairs until he was out of sight. No, Mario was quite sure that no one would look at his profile twice and contact him. It was always like this. No one had ever been interested in Mario Götze and he was pretty sure that it would stay that way.

**

“Wow, Mario, look! You had hundred hits! So many messages!” Robert stated excitedly the next afternoon when he sat on Mario's kitchen table and Mario gulped for air and stared incredulously at the screen of his laptop, unable to believe his own eyes.

Robert turned around on Mario, beaming at him. “Here, look how many handsome guys want to get to know you better!”

Mario snorted. “You don't know whether they are handsome or not, there are no pictures. They could be lying. You lied about me, too. I'm not handsome, either.”

Robert's face softened as he noticed the sadness in Mario's big brown eyes. “You are handsome and everything else I wrote about you in your profile. And these guys know that they will be found out if they are lying, so I do believe that most of their descriptions are true.” He pointed at the screen. “Is there someone you would like to chat with?” he asked softly.

Mario looked at the screen again, chewing thoughtfully on his bottom lip. “Hm, yes, this guy seems to be interesting. His words are nice and I like blond and light-brown eyes,” he said after a while, thinking of his secret crush who had blond hair and light-brown eyes, too. In fact, the eyes of his crush weren't only 'brown', they were green-brown, the brownish color changing from hazel to amber and golden depending on the mood he was in. It were the most beautiful eyes Mario had ever seen, especially when Marco Reus was laughing his wonderful laughter.

Robert nodded his head. “Yes, you are right, this guy seems to be perfect to start with. Anybody else?”

Mario chewed on his lips again. “Nah, only this one,” he said quietly. “This guy or no one,” he confirmed, hesitantly reaching out for his laptop. “I should write him back, shouldn't I?” he inquired and Robert firmly nodded his head. “Yes, Mario, you definitely should write him back. He's the right one for you, I can feel it in my guts, Mario. Just give it a try!”

Mario smiled for the first time for today and began to type on his keyboard. Maybe, Robert was right and this guy with blond hair and light-brown eyes would be the right one for him.

**

Over the next weeks, Mario's chats with his unknown partner became the highlights of his day, apart from his work for the BVB. He loved his work as a physiotherapist and he also loved it to massage his secret crush Marco Reus and be near him this way, but his chats with the guy from this dating portal became more and more important to him and after three weeks, they chatted oftentimes more than three hours every evening.

Mario had never found it that easily to talk to anybody before, and they talked about everything that came into their minds, their thoughts and feelings and what they wished for their future. His chat-partner was a footballer, as well, which was funny and seemed to be a good sign, and Mario suspected that he played for a club of the third league or so, because his chat-partner didn't act like a star-footballer, bragging about his success or anything else like this. Mario himself kept his stories about his work as vague as he could, not wanting to reveal any secrets, but his chat-partner seemed to understand it and never asked nosy questions, accepting what Mario was ready to reveal.

Mario didn't know his real name, nor had he told him his own name, this was one of the conditions of this dating portal. If they decided to meet personally, they would tell each other their names, but during their chats, his internet-date was only 'Tom' and he was 'Jerry' like the clumsy tomcat and the clever mouse from the cartoon 'Tom and Jerry'. During their first chats, they had found out that both of them had loved watching this cartoon and so 'Tom' had suggested that they should use these pseuds. Mario had liked the idea of being the clever mouse and although he doubted that 'Tom' was as clumsy as the stupid tomcat in that cartoon, but Mario had always loved cats and imagining his internet-date as a beautiful tomcat had something very tempting and appealing.

He had always compared his crush Marco to a big cat, too, the winger's elegant movements on the pitch, his wonderful green-amber-golden eyes and his sand-blond hair reminding Mario of a lion or a puma. He still felt the butterflies fluttering around in his stomach whenever he caught a look at the taller footballer, but, 'Tom' helped him forget the hopelessness of his crush and Mario focused more and more on him instead of Marco during the following weeks, the same butterflies starting to flutter in his stomach when he sat down at his kitchen table and switching his laptop on to chat with 'Tom'.

Rober came over from time to time, asking him how they were doing and when Mario told him that they still hadn't fixed an appointment to meet in person, he desperately rolled his eyes. “Mario, you are really a hopeless case! I registered you there so you would find someone for real, not only for chatting via laptop! Fix a date with your 'Tom'!” he ordered him strictly and Mario bit his lip, staring at his feet.

“He never asked me for a real date,” he defended himself, knowing how lamely his excuse sounded. Apart from that, 'Tom' had given him enough hints that he was eager to meet him, he was only too polite to push the issue, waiting patiently for Mario to make up his mind.

Robert only raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him, crossing his arms before his chest. “Sure. Because everyone using this portal to find the right one is only interested in innocent chats via internet,” he stated dryly, his eyebrow crawling up until it almost met the line of his dark hair.

“Hm, probably not,” Mario mumbled embarrassedly, blushing all over his face.

“I see. I expect you to tell me that you fixed a date within the next couple days. Otherwise, I might be inclined to do it for you. Remember that I know your access-code...” Robert drawled, grinning rather smugly.

Mario paled. “You wouldn't do that, would you?” he whispered frightened, but when he saw the determined expression in Robert's eyes, he swallowed audibly.

“Care to find out?” Robert only purred and Mario shook vigorously his head. “No, I will ask him,” he hurried to promise and after one more sharp look, Robert nodded his head.

“I'll take you on your word, Mario,” he said, his voice softening again. “You deserve to be happy, but you have to give happiness a chance.” He smiled at him, before leaving the brunet alone with his laptop, waving at him from the front-door.

“I'm sure that your 'Tom' won't try to eat you and if he'll do, then only in a good way,” he said, winking at him with his left eye. Mario smiled back, weakly, asking himself not for the first time what he had gotten himself into. With a deep sigh, he started his laptop, it was time to talk to 'Tom' and fix a date...

**

_'Hey, Jerry! How are you? I hope you had a great day! ☺'_

_'Hello, Tom! Yes, my day was fine, thank you. ☺ How was yours?'_

_'Training was okay, thank you. Feeling a little bit tired. Did you read the book I suggested to you the last week?'_

_'No, sorry, I had not much time. Work was getting in the way, we have a lot of injured players at the moment. But, I will start with it tonight. I'm really curious. ☺'_

_'I'm sure you will like it, Jerry. By the way, are you busied at the weekend?'_

Mario's heart started to race all of a sudden. Could it be that 'Tom' wanted to ask him out?

 _'No, I'm not. Why?'_ He was never busied at the weekends, Robert being the only one showing up from time to time. But he wasn't about to tell 'Tom' that.

_'Because I really would like to meet you in person, Jerry. I'm sure that you are the most wonderful guy in the world and I want to see you and talk to you, not only via internet, please? ☺ ♥ ☺'_

Mario stared at his screen, his mouth dry and his throat tight, not sure what he should answer to that.

 _'Uhm, are you sure?'_ he typed back, his fingers trembling and sweating. He packed four errors in his short question and had to delete it and typed it again before he could press the send-button.

Then, he sat there, waiting anxiously for 'Tom's' answer. It came quickly and was rather short.

 _'Never been surer in my life, Jerry.'_ This time without smiley to emphasis his seriousness.

 _'Okay?! When and where?'_ he typed back, his fingers still trembling.

They mused about a place and Mario finally suggested a small Italian restaurant he knew because the footballers from his club went there oftentimes, knowing that they could enjoy a delicious meal without being harassed in privacy. He had spared enough money to pay his own bill and – if needed – 'Tom's' bill, too.

'Tom' seemed to be fine with that and they fixed Friday evening at twenty o'clock. Mario would make a reservation. Then, a sudden thought came into his mind.

 _'I don't know how you look like? How do we make sure that we will find each other?'_ he asked and he didn't have to wait long for the answer.

_'I will have a little plushy 'Tom' in my shirt pocket and you a little 'Jerry'. There is a comic shop selling them.'_

A huge smile spread out on Mario's features. Yes, Tom and Jerry, that would be perfect. He knew the shop 'Tom' had mentioned and he would go there the next day and look for a little 'Jerry-Mouse'.

When they said goodnight after two more hours of chatting, Mario slept soundly and peacefully the entire night, the happy smile never leaving his face.

**

Friday morning, Mario was only a nervous wreck. Robert had promised to come to him and help him to dress up for the evening, but first, he had to go through his working routine without making a complete fool of himself.

When he entered the gym, rubbing his sweaty hands against his pants, Marco already sat on the massage table, waiting for him. He had a minor injury, nothing serious, but he couldn't play at the weekend on Sunday and would stay at home instead of going to the away match with his team.

Mario was supposed to massage his injured leg and all of his worries and his hidden feelings for the blonde footballer hit him with surprising force all of a sudden. He bit his lip as his step faltered, inhaling deeply to calm himself down.

Marco didn't seem to notice the state he was in, he smiled cheerfully at the smaller brunet, greeting him friendly.

“Hello, Mario! How are you doing? You look a little bit flushed today. You didn't catch a cold, did you?” Was there a strange, almost worried undertone in the blond's voice? Mario blinked.

“Hello, Marco. No, no, I'm fine, thanks. Only a restless night,” he mumbled, drying his hands with a paper towel.

Marco's perfect eyebrows wandered up questioningly. “I see. Is there something special you're doing at the weekend, then?” he asked casually, lying down on the table on his front, so Mario couldn't see his face.

Mario started to massage the kinks out of Marco's leg, enjoying the smooth and fragrant skin underneath his fingers. “Uhm yes, I have a date,” he admitted sheepishly.

Marco seemed to tense and he let out a little yelp as Mario's fingers dug into the clenching muscle of his calf. “Oh, sorry, Marco! Did I hurt you?” Mario asked worried and Marco shook his head, his face buried in his forearms.

“No, everything's fine, Mario. I'm only a little bit tensed from the working out to get my strength back. So a date. What kind of date?” he asked, his voice muffled by his arms.

Mario kept massaging Marco's leg until he felt the muscles relax under his skilled fingers. “A blind date,” he admitted, his voice only a soft murmur. “We only chatted via internet until now.”

There was a long silence between them, before Marco finally spoke up, his voice sounding a little bit hoarse and almost gentle: “I wish you good luck then, Mario. Whoever it is you will meet, I'm sure that they will be very lucky, because you're really someone special, Mario. You deserve to be happy.” He sounded serious, but there was this strange undertone in his voice Mario couldn't detect, something akin to wistfulness, maybe?

Mario swallowed, deeply touched, blinking against the sudden tears in his eyes. “Thank you, Marco. This means a lot to me,” he replied when he was sure that he was able to speak again.

 _'If it would only be you,'_ he thought, but some dreams didn't come true, no matter how much he wished they would and 'Tom' surely would be a nice guy. He only had to give him a try.

**

Mario sat on the table he had reserved, waiting anxiously for 'Tom' to show up. Robert had helped him with his clothes and had driven him to the restaurant, making sure that Mario wouldn't get cold feet and flee from this place before 'Tom' would show up. It was five minutes to twenty o'clock and Mario played restlessly with the little 'Jerry-Mouse' in his hand smiling cheerfully at him. It almost seemed as if Jerry was winking at him with his eye, but that was most likely due to the dimmed lights in the corner where he sat. He wore a tight dark-red dress-shirt that let his brown eyes sparkle and his hair shine in the golden light and black jeans that accentuated his strong-muscled legs. Mario was glad that the black denim also hid the wet spots his hands had left there.

The door opened and a gust of cool wind blew in his direction as another guest stepped into the restaurant. Mario turned his head only to freeze instantly, staring disbelievingly at the newcomer.

Marco Reus looked stunning in his dark-blue dress-shirt and his tight dark-blue jeans, every hair neatly in place, and all Mario could do was staring at the blonde footballer as he gazed around, obviously searching for someone.

How was he supposed to meet 'Tom' here when his secret crush sat at the next table, flirting with his own date? Mario felt desperate and was about to jump to his feet and flee from the restaurant when Marco turned his head in his direction, his beautiful eyes lightening up with a happy smile when he saw him.

Mario paled as he watched Marco coming closer to his table like a big cat creeping up on its prey with firm and elegant movements. It was only then when he noticed the little plushy peering out of the pocket of Marco's dress-shirt: a little 'Tom' from Tom and Jerry.

Marco's smile widened as he sat down on the table opposite Mario, beaming at him.

“M-M-Marco! What are you doing here?” Mario stammered, not knowing what was going on.

“Meeting my own not so blind date, my own personal 'Jerry', I hope,” Marco admitted cheerfully, reaching out to take Mario's cold and trembling hand still clenched around the little mouse in his own. “You are my Jerry, aren't you, Mario?” he asked quietly, looking the younger one deep in his eyes.

“B-b-but h-h-how did you know? I mean...” Mario's voice trailed off and he swallowed, fearing that he would wake up from this wonderful dream and find out that he was lying in his cold and lonely bed.

Marco sighed. “I'm sorry, Mario. I didn't know for sure, but I suspected it for a while. You can imagine how hard it is for me to find someone who would be interested in me and not only the star-footballer, even more to find another _guy_ , that is. When you came to our club and I saw you, I felt totally drawn in by you, but, you never gave me a sign that you returned my feelings and one night, Marcel had the idea to register me to this dating portal. Your profile got me hooked right at first sight and I was so happy when you answered me. After weeks of chatting I realized with whom I probably was chatting and I was even more happy than I had already been before. But, I also knew that you needed more time and I wanted to give you this time, so I waited until I thought you would be ready to meet me and give us a try. You will give us a try, Mario, won't you? Because I really care about you.”

Mario smiled and he didn't try to hide and wipe away the single tear of happiness that rolled down his rosy cheek. “Yes, I want to give us a try, Marco,” he whispered hoarsely. “I fell for you right at first sight, too, but you are a star and I never ever thought that you could be interested in me. And so, I let Robert set up my profile in this portal...”

Marco's fingers gently stroked his hand. “I'm not a star, Mario. I'm only a young man crazy in love with you,” he confessed, his own fear of maybe being rejected clear to hear in his husky voice.

Mario pressed Marco's hand and said: “You were the only one I chatted with. When I saw your answer, I knew that it would be you or no one. And I'm crazy in love with you, too.”

They looked each other deep in the eyes until the waitress came to their table, beaming at the happy couple and taking their orders with a knowing smile. Mario and Marco neither noticed her smile, nor anything else, they were oblivious to anything else than their own personal heaven, talking excitedly and exchanging deep and loving looks and smiles while they enjoyed their meals, fingers stroking the smooth skin of the other one's hand tenderly from time to time.

On their table near the vase with one single red rose and almost forgotten sat two little plushies side by side, peacefully, a little brown mouse and a little gray tomcat, well-known as 'Tom and Jerry' from the cartoon, and from time to time, one could get the impression that they were smiling at each other and winking with their eyes, watching the happy couple in front of them with a contented expression on their plushy faces.


End file.
